Page 46 of The Daring Times of Fern Adair
Fern shouldn’t have felt mortified by the statement. But she did. It brought her right back to those Saturday night dinners and how utterly naïve she’d been.
“You enjoy humiliating me.” She tilted the brim of her cloche down and reached for the newspaper clipping about Eugenia. It was time to leave.
“Hey.” Cal intercepted her hand. She shook it off.
“My parents couldn’t even pay men to come have a second look at me, and you know it.”
She grabbed her purse and spun around for the office door. The cab was hopefully still waiting out front.
“I didn’t intend to humiliate you. And I sure as hell wouldn’t enjoy it,” he said as she shuttled toward the door.
Something inside of her broke. It fissured, and a flood of what she’d been trying to hold in gushed out.
“You drugged me!” Fern wheeled in his direction again, no longer hiding behind the brim of her hat. “You undressed me and put my body into…into lewd positions! You let a man photograph me, and Francis and the rest of your goons ogled me and laughed the whole time! Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it! Don’t tell me you didn’t intend to do all those things!”
Her cheeks felt puffy, and with horror, she realized why. Tears. Cal’s stare withered under the surprise outburst. He finally looked away.
She wiped at her damp cheeks, furious she’d let him see her cry and panicked as she realized her tears weren’t finished. Fern hurried into the front office, thankful Bessy had left for the day.
Cal caught her in the front hall of the textile building. She could see the street through the double glass doors, the sunset light fading to purple.
“I didn’t,” he said, taking her elbow and hauling her to a stop. “Listen to me, Fern. Please.”
She quit trying to wrench her arm free. Cal didn’t let go, but he softened his grip. She was using the hat’s brim again as a shield. Fern knew he wouldn’t put up with that, and sure enough, he reached for her chin and hitched it up until she was looking at him. Tears and all.
The space between his brows crumpled. “I didn’t let anyone ogle or laugh at you.”
The humming of the machinery in the vast room next to them made her pitch her voice a little louder. “I remember laughter.”
“There was no one else in the room. Just me and Stanny. No one touched you, Fern; no one hurt you while you were out.”
She shook her head. It wasn’t enough. He’d done something awful. She couldn’t ever forgive him, even if he asked for it, which he hadn’t. And he wouldn’t. She’d have wagered money on it.
“But you still did it.” Her chin slipped down now that he’d taken his hand away.
“Yeah.” He let out a long breath. “And I’m sorry for it.”
It wasn’t a lie. At least, she didn’t think it was. Something about him told her that he wouldn’t waste his breath on lies.
“Is Rodney going to hurt Buchanan?” Fern couldn’t leave without asking. She had to try to protect her brother if she could.
“I can’t tell you that, princess.”
“Because you don’t know? Or because you won’t say?”
Cal didn’t answer. He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared her down.
“Is Rodney going to come find me again?”
The subtle shift of Cal’s jaw wouldn’t have been noticeable if she hadn’t already been looking at hismouth and remembering the complicated things she’d felt when he’d nipped at her throat.
“No one’s gonna mess with you again.”
Cal didn’t say anything more about why they wouldn’t, or what to do if someone did approach her. It was as simple as that.
Fern nodded. “I have a cab waiting.”
He peered through the double doors. “I can give you a ride.”
